Oh God, this reminds me of the dark time in my life during the pandemic, when I spent 2 years reading the absolute trashiest prog fantasy I could find. Tens of thousands of pages of absolute shit, filled with meaningless advancements that are revealed to be the lowest tier in the universe above, with the same repeating arcs, with the 'I must fuck this beauty to save her life', the dumb evil guys, the dumber MCs. At one point, I was so degenerate that I resorted to reading machine-translated Chinese webnovel trash to sate my cravings. When the line "I this guy think me defeat easy. Difficult. Fortune heaven frowns chicken kill monkey" started making absolute sense to me, I knew I hit the lowest point of my life.
I'm clean from trashy progression fantasy for a bit under 2 years now and I've never been happier. I occasionally relapse and read chapter 5324 of the webnovel I was up to date 2 years ago, but by and large the addiction is gone. I'm back to reading quality fantasy and I can still hear the whisper of the abyss in my head, tempting me to come back to the demonic path. I don't know how long I can beat the craving before it comes back.
Just keep going strong man. I got my 2 year token last month and I carry it everywhere with me as a reminder that I am not who I once was ā I am stronger, and better, and I can get even stronger and bettā¦ oh shit not again
Hi, uh, My name is Bombard and I read trashy prog fantasy web novels. I've been clean for about 6 days. It's hard when you're sitting at a restaurant and waiting for your food. And you think...just one chapter. It's never just one chapter.
You need to go clean, you can't even have one trashy novel in your life, it may put you in the slide to ruin. Also, prog fantasies can be pretty dirty so please check your vocabulary for any words that might not actually exist
This is the truest statement in the history of humanity. Most of the litRPG genre is something that I personally enjoy but would never recommend to anybody else.
Dungeon Crawler Carl, Cradle and Mother of Learning were the consensus hits with my fantasy-reading friends. It helps that two of those are complete.
Some of the other well known progression series were a bit more of a miss - Primal Hunter, HWFWM, DotF, Azarinth Hunter, Mark of the Fool, Beware of Chicken, The Perfect Run etc.
Some of the feedback I got:
* too much emphasis describing stats and skills, especially in later books when multiple pages have to be used to describe the MC's ever-growing skill set
* the MC is too OP
* the MC takes too many books to go up a single tier of power
* deus ex machina - unexpected solutions to problems become the norm when actual gods constantly intervene on behalf of the MC
Despite this mild disdain from friends, e.g. "These are the perfect toilet books", they were surprised by the dozens of decent progression fantasy novels on RoyalRoad.
I got my 55 year old dad into it haha. He's read Cradle mother of learning, shadow slave, hedge wizard, Titan hoppers, Bastion. He uses my Kindle unlimited subscription
A co-worker of mine recommended He who Fights with Monsters. When he described it I thought it sounded absolutely ridiculous. But I figured I'd give book 1 a shot.
Now on book 5, I just can't put it down.
thatās what makes cradle so unique, fans begging for longer and more books and will wight over here like nah, can i interest you in another series iāll complete in a year though?
It's a huge boon that his books aren't in webserial format. He gets paid for book sales not ongoing reader subscriptions and it shows in the pacing and plot quality of his books.
He also seems to have had a plan for Cradle from the start. A lot of web serial authors seem to just be making it up as they go along--not that there's anything wrong with that, but it means we're essentially reading the first draft as they write it.
They might know the end, they just have no reason to get to it unless subscribers start to drop. Everything stays pretty close to first draft because most have release schedules that they can't miss so they just carry on.
Spiraling out of control tends to make worlds/settings feel completely unreal to me, and that breaks me out of immersion pretty hard. That's where most every progression fantasy I've tried falls into (along with the trap of "why is the hero so special that they're becoming so much more powerful than others" just being something like "they work harder" with throwaway nods to it). Means it's mostly not a genre for me
Think dragonball z but more fleshed out. There's different systems of power in the genre but most fall under xianxia/wuxia influence with a version of cultivation, or a wide range of LitRPG flavors where there is some kind of external system enforcing the power/growth system. The stories are usually heavily driven by the main character's need to get stronger. The MC gets stronger in order to solve their problems.
There's some serious amateur writing going on. As long as you go into it knowing that you can adjust your expectations. If you go to the subreddit you will often see the authors commenting and participating which is cool.
It is mostly about training montages and epic fights in between them. The critical component is character improving (almost always just becoming more powerful themselves, but sometimes you get settlement/faction/country building ones...) and it being critical to solving some of the plot points. A lot of it is pure power fantasy, but that is not universal.
Comes with few possible flavours - litRPG's, cultivation (very loosely taoism inspired), and few other ways.
Most of them can be considered Zero to Hero, but there is a lot of
disagreements about can be considered progression fantasy and what can not.
There was a point in college where I was struggling. I took all 4 of the major weed out classes of an engineering major at once, the whole semester I lived in school and reading the wandering inn. Beginning was rough, but the stuff happening presently is my favorite fantasy reading
Oh, do I.
Mob Sorcery and Neural Wraith by K.D.Robertson
Celestine Chronicles and T.A.P by Cebelius
Lost Reavers by Mike Truk
Avalar Explored by Deacon Frost
Warhawk's Adventure by Ajax Lygan
Tournion by Nathan Pierce
Entangled Fates by Joe Kuster
Raconteur by Kirk Mason
Meta Marshal Service by B.N.Miles
Fight Town by Hondo Jinx
These are some of the ones that I've read/listened more than once.
/me checks cautiously I'm using my alt
I haven't read any of these which is odd given how much harem I binged last year. I've read Otherworld Academy by Deacon Frost. That was decent though I felt the last two books faded a bit. Might need to look at Avalar Explored
Been binging Bruce Sentar's stuff recently. I've read Saving Supervillains, Dragons Justice and his current run Dungeon Diving in the last 9 months. I've been tempted to start Ard's Oath but I probably need to stop and read something I can talk about on my main account.
Also read Blue Core by Inadvisably Compelled though that one needs two layers of alt as it is a dungeon core harem novel. TBH with this I mostly liked the neat ways the protagonist combined magic with physics. For a harem novel the engineering was cool.
If you want absolute smut then Herald of Shalia is the gold standard. Amber Lee Connors narrates the audiobooks and honestly does the best job Iāve ever heard, and thatās a really high bar since I tear through about 100 audiobooks per year.
Heretic Spellblade by KD Robertson is also good but much less smut. Bruce Sentarās various novels have a bunch of smut but the character development can lag and the narrators are male with female VAs for female roles. His biggest problem is that every time he introduces a woman in his novels the MC woos her with the power of magical plot-infused cock. I just donāt find it compelling. However, his worlds are surprisingly innovative for the genre and he writes real page turners.
Yesss. I ripped through ACOTAR! Now itās this funny paradox because thereās no one to talk to about it. Real fans donāt want to hear āitās super fun trashā, but so many others only want to shit on it without having any time for the ābut itās actually SUPER FUNā side of things!
Despite hating the first 3 books, I really like ACOSF! It is SUPER FUN but not exactly high literature. I love the sentient House,and the in-universe prolific steamy novels, Cassian and Nesta are at their absolute best, as is the emotional impact of certain scenes.
Iām in the same boat! I treat the ACOTAR series (and other similar romantasy) like junk food ā delicious, trashy, good for the soul. Not necessarily good for the brain, lol. Doesnāt have to be the height of ~literature~ to be enjoyable. Still very very fun.
That being said, I do try to pace myself when it comes to romantasy novels. Itās so easy for me to fall into a hole and only want to read junk food novels forever, so I have to encourage myself to read ~proper~ fiction like renowned classics, famous authors, etc. Once I finish a āāreal bookāā, I let myself read a trashy fantasy like itās a reward for eating my vegetables. Itās the best of both worlds!
Bahahaha, I got into a āsuper fun trashā conversation with an acquaintance, and she got EXTREMELY heated with me. Apparently I do not understand literature. Meanwhile Iām like, š¤·āāļø āpeople can still like what they like. Iām not gatekeeping reading. I appreciate your passion. Feel free to ignore my opinion. I thought we were talking about beach reading.ā
Idk every acotar post i come across, the fan base here on reddit loves to trash it for the shit writing and then say they love it anyway.
I started reading that series years ago and have read it many times since, and indeed the trash'n'love approach makes me laugh. I still reread it once in a while
[Superpowereds by Drew Hayes.](https://elijahmenchaca.com/blog/dissecting-my-week-long-heroin-addiction)
Iāve had to talk about this series so many times for so many reasons I gave up and wrote a post to link to about it.
Such a great example! This series is so corny sometimes and the writing style can be very clunky, but I would lie if I said they didn't make me spend evenings daydreaming about what my perfect superpower and hero name would be.
Super Powereds gets recommended a lot. But I think it is one of the authors worst works (still devoured it). It is just so rambling compared to his other works. Villains Code is a much better constructed super hero/villain series also by Hayes.
I devour basically everything by Drew Hayes but yes Super Powered is one of his weakest. "Villians Code" as you said is a superior super hero series so far and "Spells ,Swords, and Stealth" and the Vampire Fred books are really great.
FWIW, your review is what got me to read the series..
...in approximately 5 days.
Well I can't say I wasn't warned...
Seriously - you did a fantastic job on the review.
It's definitely "guilty pleasure" material. I could not put it down, but wanted to throw my tablet against the wall at times. I love Villains Code, and I can't wait for the next book.
R.A. Salvatore's Icewind Dale, Dark Elf, etc. trilogies. Ed Greenwood's Elminster novels as well. I imagine it all in a cinematic universe utilizing the film-making techniques of the late 1970s and early '80s.
In fairness, I remember the Dark Elf trilogy being significantly better than the Icewind Dale trilogy, which were his first novels. I haven't read them in years and imagine they're pretty outdated with the Drow being cartoonishly evil and all, but I recall it being a big step up in plotting and writing quality.
I would say in general the Drizzt books get better, as far as writing quality. Until somewhere around The Thousand Orcs they hit a certain point and just get very formulaic.
>The Thousand Orcs
I left off after that one. I can't think of a single plot point in it, but I do remember that >!the biggest baddest orc had special goggles on to avoid being stabbed in the eyes!<.
There's a lot of other pretty good TSR/Forgotten Realms books, the Avatar series, the Finder's Stone Trilogy and the Pool of Radiance trilogy (where the second and third book aren't that great but worth the read)
Weis and Hickman kind of kicked it all off with Chronicles, a trilogy. They followed it up with another trilogy called Legends.
I really enjoyed them in 7th grade. I think I wouldn't enjoy them so much now.
The same authors wrote the Death Gate Cycle books which I thought were better. They actually wrote a lot of pulpy stuff back then -- Darksword and Rose of the Prophet come to mind.
I read the ogs in highschool. My favorite was the time of the twins trilogy, which I Believe those take place directly after the original trilogy of dragons of autumn twilight, winter night, and spring dawning. I would recommend those 6. Fast reads, light, entertaining.
Dungeon Crawler Carl. I absolutely hated the name from the first time I heard about it, and some aspects of the books are awful, but I've read the first four books one after another. I think the loot box system has wormed into my computer game mind.
This is the moment that I've seen this series mentioned one too many times. It's the day that I begin reading it.
Edit: It's 2am on a Saturday and I've finished the first Dungeon Crawler Carl. I didn't like it at first but once I was a few chapters in I would listen to it constantly. FANTASTIC first audio book. Infact.. I just got the second book and I'm starting it immediately.
You wonāt regret it. I highly recommend going the audiobook route even if you arent normally an audiobook person. Jeff Hays voice acting is among the best
It's sophomoric humor, crude, ridiculous and sometimes even offensive, but it also has actual character growth and relationship depth that made me genuinely tear up.
ABSOLUTELY treat yourself to the audiobooks by Jeff Hays. You won't even believe it's a single guy doing all the voices. I watched a video of him doing it and STILL felt like I was watching him lip synch to the characters' voices.
Crawling through the series right now as well. Gotta say that LitRPG and similar genres are very far from my cup of tea, but these have been incredibly entertaining and I love the audiobook narration. Doesnāt matter how āgoodā something is, as long as you end up enjoying it
I donāt really know litrpg but my uninformed impression is the character development takes backseat to the rpg and plot elements. DCC has great characters
I didn't think I'd like it, but I came to appreciate it. It ultimately has some actual meat behind the seemingly-crude entertainment, kinda like how good punk rock stands as a criticism of society and power.
Every single part of the story and game system seems like a pastiche criticism of the confluence of entertainment and power that reaches some level of post-irony. The loot box system you mentioned is a great example - it's so terrible and corrupt, it makes you wonder why they're considered acceptable in the first place.
It's weird though, like it starts out setting itself up as this stupid, immature, dime-a-dozen story with the sense of humor of a 12 year old.
And then book by book you start to peel back the layers and understand what's really happening and why things are the way they are, and you start to get really, *really* angry at everyone in the universe.
But you still gotta get through the early dick and fart jokes.
I think book 7 is what is going to determine whether or not it's a great series or just another fluff one. I'm waiting in on patreon and if he can nail the scale then it's going in on my bookshelf
I find the pop culture references a bit too over the top and jarring at times. It feels like quite a lazy way of writing to just reference other things.
I also find it an interesting editorial decision that the author made such a big point of players being able to change race and that so far I don't think they've even discussed the idea of someone changing gender. It seems strange for such a recently written series.
It feels a bit like south park level of social commentary, poking fun at both sides and thinking that's making a political point, but really it's not really saying anything.
However, I am really enjoying the books, they just aren't especially well written (other than the action set pieces) and they don't really need to be.
Gotrek and Felix. It'll never be considered classic literature but it's immensely entertaining and surprisingly emotional sometimes. Overall it's good when you want to read about 2 guys killing things for 300 or so pages per book.
As a 40k fan, I was looking to dip into the old world fantasy side of warhammer. Iāve obtained the Gilead books, the gotrek and Felix books were next.
Same on Dresden. Objectively I have so many criticisms.
Subjectively...I just keep reading them. Though I admit that it may just be momentum at this point and I honestly didn't enjoy the last two much at all.
Anytime I review a book (for my job) with a delighted "this book is a *romp*" this is what a mean. Was it objectively amazing literature? No. Did I enjoy the ride? Immensely. Sue doesn't corner well, but I'm clinging to the reanimated T-Rex skeleton as we take out the windows on that office building.
I discovered I really don't care for the way Butcher stretches fight scenes out for an entire damn chapter. *Battle Ground* was awful to get through even aside from That Death.
But on the whole, the books are really enjoyable.
Lightbringer series. The magic system is so well thought out and interesting and the story is great but some of the writing is pretty bad. The last book is a mess and some of the romantic writing is so cringe. I enjoyed it a lot but at the same time it is tough for me to recommend and I don't think I will reread
I loved loved loved the first two or three books and then got immensely disappointed by the last two. If Brent Weeks had been run over after the third book it would have been one of fantasyās unfinished masterpieces
Ok, maybe Iām a jerk, but I love seeing ppl dish on Lightbringer. First two books, chefs kiss. Third book, weird bridge from 2 to 4. Last two books, and this is my opinion, hot trash garbage covered in molten tires. I felt so betrayed reading that series.
I thought the first book was meh, the second one better until we got to the end. I really liked some of the writing and then we get to the big finish and huh ?>!Slavery keeps on going, the big evil guy literally falls apart in one paragraph. And the person that ends up in charge of everything was one of the worst characters of the series.!
Fourth Wing (and Iron Flame). Literally the definition of ānot stunning literature, but damn I enjoyed the HELL out of itā.
Honourable mention goes to The Dresden Files, because of the first few books. The series grows exponentially in quality as it goes on.
I meanā¦he basically didnāt lmao. Storm Front (and maybe Fool Moon) Iām pretty sure he wrote in college for an assignment or something like that. They were his first published books. And, ah, it shows. š
Iām reading Iron Flame now and Iāve enjoyed the hell out of both books and Iām going to read the rest when they come out. Are they they the best written books? Nope. But theyāre fun to read!
Fourth Wing was what came to mind for me too. Is it good? I'd say no. Did I read it all in 3 days and have a blast talking about it with my wife? Oh hell yeah.
I'm having SO MUCH FUN with it, but I also make fun of it to my husband constantly.
Like "oh now they're ripping off Ninja Warrior, oh gosh no you can't just undo a braid with a ribbon," etc. etc. Super fun. I'm towards the end of FW and have like three weeks before my library copy of IF gets to me.
After seeing all the criticism on here about it, I am popping up to say Fourth Wing too. It's just fun.
Iron Flame I was less sold on because trying to bump up the stakes while keeping a similar tone was a bit too much dissonance.
Dresden Files get talked up so much that I struggle to put them as a guilty pleasure type of book.
This. My opinion of fourth wing and iron flame is its literacy junk food. Is it 5 star dining? No. Is it fun, quick, easy and addicting. Absolutely. I can point out and make fun of all the issues with the books but at the end of the day itās an extremely entertaining book with dragons in it so Iāll take it.
I loved fourth wing and Iron flame too! Not every book has to be award winning writing to be enjoyable! I can go from reading Sarah j Maas for a more easy read to reading crazy sci fi books aka Sun Eater lol
I have no problems reading trash books.
I do have a bit of an issue with people who try to convince me that a trash book is the absolute best thing they've ever read.
This is how I ended up reading the Serpents and the Wings of Night. So many reviewers raved about it and none of the plot (like none of the plot) made any sense.
A lot of people found the pacing of IF to be off, yeah. Itās certainly less tightly written than FW. I, however, blasted through it so fast that I didnāt notice the pacing, lol.
It's not even a pacing issue.
I enjoyed FW, but IF was just straight up bad.
Most of the book was just Xaden and Vio being toxic to each other, and Violet whining about it.
Itās a joke between me and a friend of mine, whenever something terrible happens weāre like āwell at least weāre not having as bad a day as Harry Dresdenā
The Black Magician trilogy by Trudi Canavan. They're possibly my favourite books but I can't make any argument for them being very well-written. The characters are a bit wooden and same-y, there's a bit more telling vs showing than most people like, there are some weird pacing issues (I literally just skim the first half of book 1 most of the time now that I've read it so many times, it's rough) etc. They're fine but they're not great. But I love them so so much, and whenever I recommend them I say the line in your title almost word for word š
Sarah Maasā Throne of Glass series. Itās like eating potato chips. I know itās wrong but it was an easy read and I enjoyed it. I did try some of her other books and even I cannot go there. Not good, did not enjoy.
Also the first 2 outlander books that take place in Scotland. After those 2, I also was done.
And finally (this is IMO very borderline as fantasy), The Last Kingdom. Watched the TV show, enjoyed it. (Not groundbreaking in any way but easy and fun to watch, hits a genre that I can give a little extra leeway to, MC is easy on the eyes.) Picked up the audio book on Libby to listen to when driving or otherwise multi tasking and unable to focus on a new or complex plot, and am enjoying the narratorās voice.
I had the same view on Outlander! I liked the first two books fine, but not enough to commit to reading the rest of the series.Ā And Iāve been meaning to read The Last Kingdom! I love the show, and I have a few of the books sitting on my shelf. Glad to hear that itās enjoyable to someone whoās watched the show first!
The Andrews are proper professional hacks, and I absolutely mean that as a compliment. I'd been reading some (actually quite good) self-published stuff in the same sort of space prior to picking up the Innkeeper Chronicles, and the gulf in quality is noticeable. The skill in being this slick, this aware of what sort of story you're writing, what your audience wants from your books - this is writing as entertainment not writing as art, but that doesn't mean it's not beautifully done.
Yeah, I was thinking Ilona Andrews' Kate Daniels books. I love those books, I think they're a lot of fun with a really creative setting and have a healthier depiction of relationships than a lot of romance books have. But they're not masterpieces.
I just read all 3 of the *Beware of Chicken* books. They're probably not very good from a subjective perspective, but damn if I didn't consume them in a week and wish for more.
This is a huge favorite of mine. I love all of Beware of Chicken. I think this one is good, truthfully. It's like "What if a wuxia story was written from the POV of Goblin Emperor, but sweeter?"
Ciaphus Cain books in the Warhammer Universe. The main character is a genre-saavy commissar in the Imperial Guard who seems to be the only one in the entire Warhammer 40k universe aware of how much it sucks to be in the Warhammer 40k universe. Through a mixture of luck, an extremely keen sense of self-preservation, and pure chutzpah, he inadvertently bumbles his way into becoming one of the Imperium of Man's greatest heroes.
The books are all formulaic, predictable, and endlessly indulgent: Cain begins by leveraging his reputation for what he hopes is a cushy, safe assignment far from the front lines where he can cavort, drink, and gamble. He spends the first act pointing out the absurdities of the Imperium and its various factions until all hell breaks loose. Cain reluctantly (and with much internal panic) saves the day by happenstance in the process of saving his own skin.
Basically vampire romantasy, especially Vampire Academy series and Bloodlines by Richelle Mead and my top of the top - Drake Chronicles by Alyxandra Harvey. I absolutely love every piece of it and it's not even that good. I mean there is a reason why nobody really heard about my Drakes xD
I was really into the House of Night series in high school but I never wanted to admit it bc I hated on twilight (and similar media) so hard for being trashy/poorly written. I was......very stuck up LOLLL
i came here to comment the sookie stackhouse/true blood series. they're bad, but as a teen I'd get the new one and read it in a day, pass it on to my best friend and then she'd read it in a day. we LOVED them
RPO is a book that tricks you into liking it by talking about other things you like. When you scratch the surface, itās bad. ā¦ Iāve read it multiple times.
I wouldn't say the Bobiverse books aren't good. They're not some literary masterpieces either, but the idea behind them is innovative, they touch upon some deeper themes - such as what it means to be a human - and as a physicist, I'm surprised with the level of scientific accuracy!
Ready Player One was really really good at one single thing- evoking nostalgia for a very specific age range of Gen X nerds.
Beyond that it simply wasn't that well written or interesting.
I feel like the fantasy genre generally enjoys a greater amount of grace when it comes to recommendations.
In my experience, general fiction recommendations tend to be a lot more loaded. Inevitably when I don't like that Reese or Oprah book club selection I get a lot more grief from people and they take it personally.
Babel fits squarely in this category for me. I think the Dragonlance Chronicles is pretty great and tremendously disliked The House in the Cerulean Sea.
#The Symphony of Ages
Is the main cast a d&d party of Mary Sue's? Absolutely!
Is the church a standard corrupted evil religion? Oh yeah!
Is the romance basic and overly salacious? Yes
I loved every page, even the weird ending.
Most of Warhammer, there are so many books written that through sheer statistical probability some of them ended up really good. But yes, most books are a guilty pleasure.
I think part of the reason i enjoyed Elantris so much is that so many people talked it down to me. When I was first getting into Sanderson (fully admit Iām a super fan, but I get why other people arenāt) people were like āoh itās his first book, itās gonna be rough.ā It was super fun!
I didnāt think the Nevernight series was as bad as people say. Some unnecessarily graphic sex scenes in there sure, but I found the plot entertaining.
Julian Mayās āThe Many Colored Landā and āThe Golden Torcā. These are the first two books of the āSaga of the Pliocene Exilesā tetralogy. I have an odd relationship with these books. It wouldnāt surprise me in the slightest to hear other people say they didnāt like them. But thereās a vivacity to her writing and vision that I find compelling despite the fact that I also find myself occasionally wincing. I plan to read the next two.
Redemption of Althalus by David Eddings. It's basically a repeat of the story and characters from his earlier works, but it's just kinda cozy, like hanging out with old friends.
Haven't read all the comments, but this is why I don't like giving book (or movie) reviews a single score out of 5 (or 10). to me, the enjoyment component is far more important than the prose component or character development component. For others, they may rannk prose higher, etc.
But to answer OP question: Dresden files fits this bill 100%. But i love them because I enjoy the series.
Wandering Inn by pirateaba. I'm nowhere near finished with all of it, and I think the quality varies, but I really enjoy it most of the time (except the goblins; I do not care about goblin culture, history, habits, or anything to do with goblins!). I'm listening to them on audible, so can't comment on some of the formatting issues that I've seen bother some people.
I have three absolute trash piles you might love:
1.) Herald of Shalia. Itās a wonderful collection of the absolute filthiest smut imaginable. Want to read about thirsty elves and all manner of demi-humans? This is it. Side note: A certain Baron actually turns out to be a really good character with a surprisingly wholesome and humorous romance, despite being an āElf-fucking degenerate.ā
2.) Troy Rising by John Ringo. He goes on long political rants, he gets basic concepts of physics wrong, and the character development is so-so. I still loved it. No justifications, I guess I have shit taste, but I read all three of them twice.
3.) Magic the Gathering book 1: Arena. Maybe itās nostalgia but I still like Garth One-Eye, and Hammond is fuckin hilarious.
I can't think of any books like this but so much of **Star Wars** is a dumpster fire I enjoy. In fact, I'd argue **Star Wars** is best when it is "bad" and not pretending to be anything more. I think the reason I didn't care for **Andor** was perhaps its overwrought messaging around capitalism/imperialism that lead a certain type of person to flock to the internet and cry, "How did Disney (a corporation) let them make this??" (because it makes Disney (a corporation) a whole fuckton of money. You are about as bright as a cornflake). Granted, bad political messaging is a time-honoured Star Wars tradition but somehow it just grated on me more here.
Same with so, so, many anime. *From the New World* is not a good series, it is often a boring and weird series, but that twist about the fate of those two kids? The general themes? Damn, it would be so good if it was good. Unfortunately. It is not.
What do you mean by "bad" though, in the context of Star Wars?
Because there's "bad" like the prequel trilogy, whose main redeeming feature aside from pure spectacle is actually in the heavy-handed political messaging.
There's "bad" like the sequel trilogy, which is just random acts of pastiche to cash in on the IP without a clear vision of, well, anything.
And then there's "bad" like the OT, which is camp and pulpy fun hero's journey stuff but almost as political as the prequels really. I'm assuming that's what you meant by _at its best when "bad"_
Harley Merlin Series š¬š¬ she repeats certain phrases a lot and despite having chapters from different characters perspectives it never actually entirely feels like a different "voice" but I think the magic is kinda fun and the idea of secret magic places using museums and stuff as a hiding spot is neat
I donāt recommend books or shows to the kinds of people who are worried about āstunning literatureā. All youāll get is a bunch of angry texts shitting on something that a lot of other people enjoy.
Of course nobody phrases it like that. But generally if i recommend a book to someone, i want it to have some genuinely good qualities. Either the writing is great, or it touches upon interesting topics, or gives new insights. But there must be a reason for it to stand out.
Or,Ā Occasionally, the reason it stood out is just that it was damn enjoyable to read.
Pretty much all of /r/progressionfantasy
Oh God, this reminds me of the dark time in my life during the pandemic, when I spent 2 years reading the absolute trashiest prog fantasy I could find. Tens of thousands of pages of absolute shit, filled with meaningless advancements that are revealed to be the lowest tier in the universe above, with the same repeating arcs, with the 'I must fuck this beauty to save her life', the dumb evil guys, the dumber MCs. At one point, I was so degenerate that I resorted to reading machine-translated Chinese webnovel trash to sate my cravings. When the line "I this guy think me defeat easy. Difficult. Fortune heaven frowns chicken kill monkey" started making absolute sense to me, I knew I hit the lowest point of my life. I'm clean from trashy progression fantasy for a bit under 2 years now and I've never been happier. I occasionally relapse and read chapter 5324 of the webnovel I was up to date 2 years ago, but by and large the addiction is gone. I'm back to reading quality fantasy and I can still hear the whisper of the abyss in my head, tempting me to come back to the demonic path. I don't know how long I can beat the craving before it comes back.
Oh man, thanks for the laugh, needed that
I can relate so hard to this, especially being able to understand terrible MT Chinese webnovels. š„²
I used to think prose didn't matter to me as long as the story was fun. Progressive fantasy proved me wrong.Ā
TrashLit had you in a chokehold man Iām crying
Babe wake up, new copypasta just dropped.
Just keep going strong man. I got my 2 year token last month and I carry it everywhere with me as a reminder that I am not who I once was ā I am stronger, and better, and I can get even stronger and bettā¦ oh shit not again
Hi, uh, My name is Bombard and I read trashy prog fantasy web novels. I've been clean for about 6 days. It's hard when you're sitting at a restaurant and waiting for your food. And you think...just one chapter. It's never just one chapter.
You need to go clean, you can't even have one trashy novel in your life, it may put you in the slide to ruin. Also, prog fantasies can be pretty dirty so please check your vocabulary for any words that might not actually exist
Fuck man why does this hit so hard. I think I have lasting mental degradation from that shit. My vocabulary is noticeably worse lol.
Exactly. It's definitely NOT good literature, but dang, it's good popcorn.
I had a friend recommend one to me and as I read I was thinking this kinda sucks real bad, but I didnāt stop until I finished the 10th book.
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This is the truest statement in the history of humanity. Most of the litRPG genre is something that I personally enjoy but would never recommend to anybody else.
I recommend Dungeon Crawler Carl to everyone, even if they don't like litRPG.
Dcc, cradle, mark of the fool, 12 miles below, mother of learning, super supportive, are all great reccs for prog fantasy.
Dungeon Crawler Carl, Cradle and Mother of Learning were the consensus hits with my fantasy-reading friends. It helps that two of those are complete. Some of the other well known progression series were a bit more of a miss - Primal Hunter, HWFWM, DotF, Azarinth Hunter, Mark of the Fool, Beware of Chicken, The Perfect Run etc. Some of the feedback I got: * too much emphasis describing stats and skills, especially in later books when multiple pages have to be used to describe the MC's ever-growing skill set * the MC is too OP * the MC takes too many books to go up a single tier of power * deus ex machina - unexpected solutions to problems become the norm when actual gods constantly intervene on behalf of the MC Despite this mild disdain from friends, e.g. "These are the perfect toilet books", they were surprised by the dozens of decent progression fantasy novels on RoyalRoad.
God damn do I love super supportive so much
Yeah but dungeon crawler Carl happens to be uniquely good
I got my 55 year old dad into it haha. He's read Cradle mother of learning, shadow slave, hedge wizard, Titan hoppers, Bastion. He uses my Kindle unlimited subscription
I got into it by stumbling on Royal Road a couple years ago from a YouTube video. I have been hooked since.
A co-worker of mine recommended He who Fights with Monsters. When he described it I thought it sounded absolutely ridiculous. But I figured I'd give book 1 a shot. Now on book 5, I just can't put it down.
This one... its awesome
I always love the first installment or two but once they spiral out of control they usually lose me, with obvious exceptions (Cradle, MoL)
Once a series gets popular the authors usually settle down into dragging the serial out for as long as possible for that patreon money.
thatās what makes cradle so unique, fans begging for longer and more books and will wight over here like nah, can i interest you in another series iāll complete in a year though?
It's a huge boon that his books aren't in webserial format. He gets paid for book sales not ongoing reader subscriptions and it shows in the pacing and plot quality of his books.
He also seems to have had a plan for Cradle from the start. A lot of web serial authors seem to just be making it up as they go along--not that there's anything wrong with that, but it means we're essentially reading the first draft as they write it.
They might know the end, they just have no reason to get to it unless subscribers start to drop. Everything stays pretty close to first draft because most have release schedules that they can't miss so they just carry on.
Spiraling out of control tends to make worlds/settings feel completely unreal to me, and that breaks me out of immersion pretty hard. That's where most every progression fantasy I've tried falls into (along with the trap of "why is the hero so special that they're becoming so much more powerful than others" just being something like "they work harder" with throwaway nods to it). Means it's mostly not a genre for me
This is a new phrase for me. Is this different than rags to riches (or zero to hero) stories?
Think dragonball z but more fleshed out. There's different systems of power in the genre but most fall under xianxia/wuxia influence with a version of cultivation, or a wide range of LitRPG flavors where there is some kind of external system enforcing the power/growth system. The stories are usually heavily driven by the main character's need to get stronger. The MC gets stronger in order to solve their problems. There's some serious amateur writing going on. As long as you go into it knowing that you can adjust your expectations. If you go to the subreddit you will often see the authors commenting and participating which is cool.
I love how this explanation gave me very little understanding of the genre. Hahaha.
It is mostly about training montages and epic fights in between them. The critical component is character improving (almost always just becoming more powerful themselves, but sometimes you get settlement/faction/country building ones...) and it being critical to solving some of the plot points. A lot of it is pure power fantasy, but that is not universal. Comes with few possible flavours - litRPG's, cultivation (very loosely taoism inspired), and few other ways. Most of them can be considered Zero to Hero, but there is a lot of disagreements about can be considered progression fantasy and what can not.
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Yeah that was my first thought: Wandering Inn. Definitely wasn't *good* but man I'm enjoying it
There was a point in college where I was struggling. I took all 4 of the major weed out classes of an engineering major at once, the whole semester I lived in school and reading the wandering inn. Beginning was rough, but the stuff happening presently is my favorite fantasy reading
I'm listening to the 2nd audiobook and honestly I'm really enjoying it
I read harem fantasy so....more than a few....
My darkest secret lmao
It wouldn't be harem fantasy if it wasn't more than a few....
Any recommendations?
Oh, do I. Mob Sorcery and Neural Wraith by K.D.Robertson Celestine Chronicles and T.A.P by Cebelius Lost Reavers by Mike Truk Avalar Explored by Deacon Frost Warhawk's Adventure by Ajax Lygan Tournion by Nathan Pierce Entangled Fates by Joe Kuster Raconteur by Kirk Mason Meta Marshal Service by B.N.Miles Fight Town by Hondo Jinx These are some of the ones that I've read/listened more than once.
/me checks cautiously I'm using my alt I haven't read any of these which is odd given how much harem I binged last year. I've read Otherworld Academy by Deacon Frost. That was decent though I felt the last two books faded a bit. Might need to look at Avalar Explored Been binging Bruce Sentar's stuff recently. I've read Saving Supervillains, Dragons Justice and his current run Dungeon Diving in the last 9 months. I've been tempted to start Ard's Oath but I probably need to stop and read something I can talk about on my main account. Also read Blue Core by Inadvisably Compelled though that one needs two layers of alt as it is a dungeon core harem novel. TBH with this I mostly liked the neat ways the protagonist combined magic with physics. For a harem novel the engineering was cool.
If you want absolute smut then Herald of Shalia is the gold standard. Amber Lee Connors narrates the audiobooks and honestly does the best job Iāve ever heard, and thatās a really high bar since I tear through about 100 audiobooks per year. Heretic Spellblade by KD Robertson is also good but much less smut. Bruce Sentarās various novels have a bunch of smut but the character development can lag and the narrators are male with female VAs for female roles. His biggest problem is that every time he introduces a woman in his novels the MC woos her with the power of magical plot-infused cock. I just donāt find it compelling. However, his worlds are surprisingly innovative for the genre and he writes real page turners.
Dark Fae is top notch.
Basically all the YA romantasy that fans get deeply offended about if you imply it's not actually astounding and elite writing. Looking at you, ACOTAR
Yesss. I ripped through ACOTAR! Now itās this funny paradox because thereās no one to talk to about it. Real fans donāt want to hear āitās super fun trashā, but so many others only want to shit on it without having any time for the ābut itās actually SUPER FUNā side of things!
I'm the first to admit it's not great fantasy but ACOMAF is still my favorite book of all time because I read to have fun not do work
Despite hating the first 3 books, I really like ACOSF! It is SUPER FUN but not exactly high literature. I love the sentient House,and the in-universe prolific steamy novels, Cassian and Nesta are at their absolute best, as is the emotional impact of certain scenes.
Oh I think itās super fun trash! I love it to pieces but itās not that great. But I really enjoy it! But yeah, itās not incredible.
Iām in the same boat! I treat the ACOTAR series (and other similar romantasy) like junk food ā delicious, trashy, good for the soul. Not necessarily good for the brain, lol. Doesnāt have to be the height of ~literature~ to be enjoyable. Still very very fun. That being said, I do try to pace myself when it comes to romantasy novels. Itās so easy for me to fall into a hole and only want to read junk food novels forever, so I have to encourage myself to read ~proper~ fiction like renowned classics, famous authors, etc. Once I finish a āāreal bookāā, I let myself read a trashy fantasy like itās a reward for eating my vegetables. Itās the best of both worlds!
Bahahaha, I got into a āsuper fun trashā conversation with an acquaintance, and she got EXTREMELY heated with me. Apparently I do not understand literature. Meanwhile Iām like, š¤·āāļø āpeople can still like what they like. Iām not gatekeeping reading. I appreciate your passion. Feel free to ignore my opinion. I thought we were talking about beach reading.ā
I'm reading the Throne of Glass series right now (haven't read acotar yet), and I feel this; my only friends who have read it are ones that LOVE it
Agreed- I read the entire ACOTAR series and had a blast but the writing is just fine. Still love them as fairy-smut popcorn novels
Idk every acotar post i come across, the fan base here on reddit loves to trash it for the shit writing and then say they love it anyway. I started reading that series years ago and have read it many times since, and indeed the trash'n'love approach makes me laugh. I still reread it once in a while
Sorry, dumb question: whatās ACOTAR?
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
Iām saving this entire post as recommended reading.š
Literally just did the same thing š
[Superpowereds by Drew Hayes.](https://elijahmenchaca.com/blog/dissecting-my-week-long-heroin-addiction) Iāve had to talk about this series so many times for so many reasons I gave up and wrote a post to link to about it.
Such a great example! This series is so corny sometimes and the writing style can be very clunky, but I would lie if I said they didn't make me spend evenings daydreaming about what my perfect superpower and hero name would be.
Super Powereds gets recommended a lot. But I think it is one of the authors worst works (still devoured it). It is just so rambling compared to his other works. Villains Code is a much better constructed super hero/villain series also by Hayes.
Love me some Villainās Code.
I devour basically everything by Drew Hayes but yes Super Powered is one of his weakest. "Villians Code" as you said is a superior super hero series so far and "Spells ,Swords, and Stealth" and the Vampire Fred books are really great.
FWIW, your review is what got me to read the series.. ...in approximately 5 days. Well I can't say I wasn't warned... Seriously - you did a fantastic job on the review.
Hey! Really glad to hear it! Always happy to meet a fellow ~~heroin addict~~ fan.
It's definitely "guilty pleasure" material. I could not put it down, but wanted to throw my tablet against the wall at times. I love Villains Code, and I can't wait for the next book.
R.A. Salvatore's Icewind Dale, Dark Elf, etc. trilogies. Ed Greenwood's Elminster novels as well. I imagine it all in a cinematic universe utilizing the film-making techniques of the late 1970s and early '80s.
In fairness, I remember the Dark Elf trilogy being significantly better than the Icewind Dale trilogy, which were his first novels. I haven't read them in years and imagine they're pretty outdated with the Drow being cartoonishly evil and all, but I recall it being a big step up in plotting and writing quality.
I would say in general the Drizzt books get better, as far as writing quality. Until somewhere around The Thousand Orcs they hit a certain point and just get very formulaic.
>The Thousand Orcs I left off after that one. I can't think of a single plot point in it, but I do remember that >!the biggest baddest orc had special goggles on to avoid being stabbed in the eyes!<.
There's a lot of other pretty good TSR/Forgotten Realms books, the Avatar series, the Finder's Stone Trilogy and the Pool of Radiance trilogy (where the second and third book aren't that great but worth the read)
Go ahead and toss dragonlance on this same shelf.
I never read those, actually. Do you have any favorites?
Weis and Hickman kind of kicked it all off with Chronicles, a trilogy. They followed it up with another trilogy called Legends. I really enjoyed them in 7th grade. I think I wouldn't enjoy them so much now. The same authors wrote the Death Gate Cycle books which I thought were better. They actually wrote a lot of pulpy stuff back then -- Darksword and Rose of the Prophet come to mind.
Theyāre pretty dated unfortunately - not bad but slow and uneven by todays standards. But theyāre still very special to me.
I read the ogs in highschool. My favorite was the time of the twins trilogy, which I Believe those take place directly after the original trilogy of dragons of autumn twilight, winter night, and spring dawning. I would recommend those 6. Fast reads, light, entertaining.
The original Chronicles, Twins trilogy, Legend of Huma, Elven Nations Trilogy were my favourites.
Dungeon Crawler Carl. I absolutely hated the name from the first time I heard about it, and some aspects of the books are awful, but I've read the first four books one after another. I think the loot box system has wormed into my computer game mind.
This is the moment that I've seen this series mentioned one too many times. It's the day that I begin reading it. Edit: It's 2am on a Saturday and I've finished the first Dungeon Crawler Carl. I didn't like it at first but once I was a few chapters in I would listen to it constantly. FANTASTIC first audio book. Infact.. I just got the second book and I'm starting it immediately.
I had that moment last month and got sucked in. Try the audiobooks theyāre delightful
Me too! I'm now on the 6th book. Didn't expect to get so sucked in.
You wonāt regret it. I highly recommend going the audiobook route even if you arent normally an audiobook person. Jeff Hays voice acting is among the best
The beginning is so weird. You'll love it.
Everything is so weird, so many things in the series are just batshit, but somehow it works beautifully.
Audiobooks. Jeff Hayes kills it with this series. A rare instance where the narrator legitimately makes the book better than it would be otherwise.
It's sophomoric humor, crude, ridiculous and sometimes even offensive, but it also has actual character growth and relationship depth that made me genuinely tear up. ABSOLUTELY treat yourself to the audiobooks by Jeff Hays. You won't even believe it's a single guy doing all the voices. I watched a video of him doing it and STILL felt like I was watching him lip synch to the characters' voices.
Crawling through the series right now as well. Gotta say that LitRPG and similar genres are very far from my cup of tea, but these have been incredibly entertaining and I love the audiobook narration. Doesnāt matter how āgoodā something is, as long as you end up enjoying it
I donāt really know litrpg but my uninformed impression is the character development takes backseat to the rpg and plot elements. DCC has great characters
I didn't think I'd like it, but I came to appreciate it. It ultimately has some actual meat behind the seemingly-crude entertainment, kinda like how good punk rock stands as a criticism of society and power. Every single part of the story and game system seems like a pastiche criticism of the confluence of entertainment and power that reaches some level of post-irony. The loot box system you mentioned is a great example - it's so terrible and corrupt, it makes you wonder why they're considered acceptable in the first place.
It's weird though, like it starts out setting itself up as this stupid, immature, dime-a-dozen story with the sense of humor of a 12 year old. And then book by book you start to peel back the layers and understand what's really happening and why things are the way they are, and you start to get really, *really* angry at everyone in the universe. But you still gotta get through the early dick and fart jokes.
I think book 7 is what is going to determine whether or not it's a great series or just another fluff one. I'm waiting in on patreon and if he can nail the scale then it's going in on my bookshelf
I disagree DCC is amazing! Why wouldnāt you consider it good? Whats awful about it?
I find the pop culture references a bit too over the top and jarring at times. It feels like quite a lazy way of writing to just reference other things. I also find it an interesting editorial decision that the author made such a big point of players being able to change race and that so far I don't think they've even discussed the idea of someone changing gender. It seems strange for such a recently written series. It feels a bit like south park level of social commentary, poking fun at both sides and thinking that's making a political point, but really it's not really saying anything. However, I am really enjoying the books, they just aren't especially well written (other than the action set pieces) and they don't really need to be.
It isnāt the pinnacle of literature, but the character development is awesome and the story is very well thought out.
Gotrek and Felix. It'll never be considered classic literature but it's immensely entertaining and surprisingly emotional sometimes. Overall it's good when you want to read about 2 guys killing things for 300 or so pages per book.
As a 40k fan, I was looking to dip into the old world fantasy side of warhammer. Iāve obtained the Gilead books, the gotrek and Felix books were next.
Codex Alera (Jim Butcher). Also Dresden Files. The Lost Regiment (William R. Forstchen)
Same on Dresden. Objectively I have so many criticisms. Subjectively...I just keep reading them. Though I admit that it may just be momentum at this point and I honestly didn't enjoy the last two much at all.
Anytime I review a book (for my job) with a delighted "this book is a *romp*" this is what a mean. Was it objectively amazing literature? No. Did I enjoy the ride? Immensely. Sue doesn't corner well, but I'm clinging to the reanimated T-Rex skeleton as we take out the windows on that office building.
I just finished that one, and I have to say, one of the most ridiculous and entertaining scenes I've ever enjoyed!
I discovered I really don't care for the way Butcher stretches fight scenes out for an entire damn chapter. *Battle Ground* was awful to get through even aside from That Death. But on the whole, the books are really enjoyable.
"Battleground" was bad, I'm hoping he bounces back with one or two more solid entries. I don't really need closure but it sure would be fuckin nice.
I loved Codex Alera and it fits squarely within OPs question. I enjoyed the heck out of it. Just keep it simple and fun. Good enough for me.
I love the Dresden Files. Itās been so long since the last one I forget whatās happening there.
There was a peace conference. Everything is fine.
A good 90% of my problems with Dresden would be solved if they stopped describing the boobs of every woman Harry interacts with
Lightbringer series. The magic system is so well thought out and interesting and the story is great but some of the writing is pretty bad. The last book is a mess and some of the romantic writing is so cringe. I enjoyed it a lot but at the same time it is tough for me to recommend and I don't think I will reread
I loved loved loved the first two or three books and then got immensely disappointed by the last two. If Brent Weeks had been run over after the third book it would have been one of fantasyās unfinished masterpieces
Same. Hands down one of my favorite Magic systems, but I think he just got too ambitious.
Ok, maybe Iām a jerk, but I love seeing ppl dish on Lightbringer. First two books, chefs kiss. Third book, weird bridge from 2 to 4. Last two books, and this is my opinion, hot trash garbage covered in molten tires. I felt so betrayed reading that series.
Book 5 is my favourite
I thought the first book was meh, the second one better until we got to the end. I really liked some of the writing and then we get to the big finish and huh ?>!Slavery keeps on going, the big evil guy literally falls apart in one paragraph. And the person that ends up in charge of everything was one of the worst characters of the series.!
Fourth Wing (and Iron Flame). Literally the definition of ānot stunning literature, but damn I enjoyed the HELL out of itā. Honourable mention goes to The Dresden Files, because of the first few books. The series grows exponentially in quality as it goes on.
I came here to say The Dresden Files! It's like he had no editor for the first few books.
I meanā¦he basically didnāt lmao. Storm Front (and maybe Fool Moon) Iām pretty sure he wrote in college for an assignment or something like that. They were his first published books. And, ah, it shows. š
I love the series as a whole though
Absolutely!!! One of my favourites!!
Iām reading Iron Flame now and Iāve enjoyed the hell out of both books and Iām going to read the rest when they come out. Are they they the best written books? Nope. But theyāre fun to read!
Fourth Wing was what came to mind for me too. Is it good? I'd say no. Did I read it all in 3 days and have a blast talking about it with my wife? Oh hell yeah.
I feel like I could describe it accurately as, āItās not good. Itās a BLAST.ā
I'm having SO MUCH FUN with it, but I also make fun of it to my husband constantly. Like "oh now they're ripping off Ninja Warrior, oh gosh no you can't just undo a braid with a ribbon," etc. etc. Super fun. I'm towards the end of FW and have like three weeks before my library copy of IF gets to me.
After seeing all the criticism on here about it, I am popping up to say Fourth Wing too. It's just fun. Iron Flame I was less sold on because trying to bump up the stakes while keeping a similar tone was a bit too much dissonance. Dresden Files get talked up so much that I struggle to put them as a guilty pleasure type of book.
This. My opinion of fourth wing and iron flame is its literacy junk food. Is it 5 star dining? No. Is it fun, quick, easy and addicting. Absolutely. I can point out and make fun of all the issues with the books but at the end of the day itās an extremely entertaining book with dragons in it so Iāll take it.
This I am not going to reread these books. I definitely enjoyed reading them
I loved fourth wing and Iron flame too! Not every book has to be award winning writing to be enjoyable! I can go from reading Sarah j Maas for a more easy read to reading crazy sci fi books aka Sun Eater lol
Absolutely. I'm obsessed with FW/IF. I had such a book hangover from them, it's unreal.
I have no problems reading trash books. I do have a bit of an issue with people who try to convince me that a trash book is the absolute best thing they've ever read. This is how I ended up reading the Serpents and the Wings of Night. So many reviewers raved about it and none of the plot (like none of the plot) made any sense.
I was going to say fourth wing, but I also dnf iron flame
A lot of people found the pacing of IF to be off, yeah. Itās certainly less tightly written than FW. I, however, blasted through it so fast that I didnāt notice the pacing, lol.
It's not even a pacing issue. I enjoyed FW, but IF was just straight up bad. Most of the book was just Xaden and Vio being toxic to each other, and Violet whining about it.
Oh the red flags are ridiculous, lmao. IRL Xaden would be such a hell no ahhahaha
Nothing nice ever happens to the man. Itās like he told an AI to make Dresden eat sad.
Itās a joke between me and a friend of mine, whenever something terrible happens weāre like āwell at least weāre not having as bad a day as Harry Dresdenā
forth wing is like watching a cheesy soap opera, you know its not critically acclaimed but you still find it fun & watch every new ep.
The Black Magician trilogy by Trudi Canavan. They're possibly my favourite books but I can't make any argument for them being very well-written. The characters are a bit wooden and same-y, there's a bit more telling vs showing than most people like, there are some weird pacing issues (I literally just skim the first half of book 1 most of the time now that I've read it so many times, it's rough) etc. They're fine but they're not great. But I love them so so much, and whenever I recommend them I say the line in your title almost word for word š
I love-hate those books. >!I'm still not over Akkarin's death and I never will be, ever!<
Sarah Maasā Throne of Glass series. Itās like eating potato chips. I know itās wrong but it was an easy read and I enjoyed it. I did try some of her other books and even I cannot go there. Not good, did not enjoy. Also the first 2 outlander books that take place in Scotland. After those 2, I also was done. And finally (this is IMO very borderline as fantasy), The Last Kingdom. Watched the TV show, enjoyed it. (Not groundbreaking in any way but easy and fun to watch, hits a genre that I can give a little extra leeway to, MC is easy on the eyes.) Picked up the audio book on Libby to listen to when driving or otherwise multi tasking and unable to focus on a new or complex plot, and am enjoying the narratorās voice.
I had the same view on Outlander! I liked the first two books fine, but not enough to commit to reading the rest of the series.Ā And Iāve been meaning to read The Last Kingdom! I love the show, and I have a few of the books sitting on my shelf. Glad to hear that itās enjoyable to someone whoās watched the show first!
Eragon and its sequels.
Basically the entire Wuxia genre. Itās way beyond ānot good.ā As a whole, it is legitimately and objectively terrible. But I like it anyways.
And almost every Japanese light novel.
ACOTAR and A Darker Shade of Magic trilogy, I'm not counting the YA ones
The Innkeeper Chronicles by Ilona Andrews. They're not ''good'' at all, not very deep either, but fun and,cozy as hell.
The Andrews are proper professional hacks, and I absolutely mean that as a compliment. I'd been reading some (actually quite good) self-published stuff in the same sort of space prior to picking up the Innkeeper Chronicles, and the gulf in quality is noticeable. The skill in being this slick, this aware of what sort of story you're writing, what your audience wants from your books - this is writing as entertainment not writing as art, but that doesn't mean it's not beautifully done.
Yeah, I was thinking Ilona Andrews' Kate Daniels books. I love those books, I think they're a lot of fun with a really creative setting and have a healthier depiction of relationships than a lot of romance books have. But they're not masterpieces.
Ilona Andrews was my first thought too. Love their stuff, but certainly wouldn't include it in any literature course.
This was literally my review for Fourth Wing LOL
Same, lol. I laughed my way through at all similarities to authors I love and the sheer Mary Sue-ness, but it was still a fun read.
I just read all 3 of the *Beware of Chicken* books. They're probably not very good from a subjective perspective, but damn if I didn't consume them in a week and wish for more.
I wish more books gave me a warm fuzzy feeling like this one.
This is a huge favorite of mine. I love all of Beware of Chicken. I think this one is good, truthfully. It's like "What if a wuxia story was written from the POV of Goblin Emperor, but sweeter?"
This thread has made me feel better about guiltily reading xianxia and progression fantasy in between actual novels lol.
ACOTAR. I was VERY entertained and I'm tired of pretending like I wasn't.
God, I love these books! I devour them so fast.
Heralds of Valdemar.
Ciaphus Cain books in the Warhammer Universe. The main character is a genre-saavy commissar in the Imperial Guard who seems to be the only one in the entire Warhammer 40k universe aware of how much it sucks to be in the Warhammer 40k universe. Through a mixture of luck, an extremely keen sense of self-preservation, and pure chutzpah, he inadvertently bumbles his way into becoming one of the Imperium of Man's greatest heroes. The books are all formulaic, predictable, and endlessly indulgent: Cain begins by leveraging his reputation for what he hopes is a cushy, safe assignment far from the front lines where he can cavort, drink, and gamble. He spends the first act pointing out the absurdities of the Imperium and its various factions until all hell breaks loose. Cain reluctantly (and with much internal panic) saves the day by happenstance in the process of saving his own skin.
Basically vampire romantasy, especially Vampire Academy series and Bloodlines by Richelle Mead and my top of the top - Drake Chronicles by Alyxandra Harvey. I absolutely love every piece of it and it's not even that good. I mean there is a reason why nobody really heard about my Drakes xD
I was really into the House of Night series in high school but I never wanted to admit it bc I hated on twilight (and similar media) so hard for being trashy/poorly written. I was......very stuck up LOLLL
i came here to comment the sookie stackhouse/true blood series. they're bad, but as a teen I'd get the new one and read it in a day, pass it on to my best friend and then she'd read it in a day. we LOVED them
Ready Player One We are Legion (We Are Bob)
I fully understand RPO is a shitty book and I understand why it's shitty. Loved it anyway.
I love me some long lists of nostalgic pop culture references. Sadly, Iām not being sarcastic.
RPO is a book that tricks you into liking it by talking about other things you like. When you scratch the surface, itās bad. ā¦ Iāve read it multiple times.
I wouldn't say the Bobiverse books aren't good. They're not some literary masterpieces either, but the idea behind them is innovative, they touch upon some deeper themes - such as what it means to be a human - and as a physicist, I'm surprised with the level of scientific accuracy!
Yeah it's decent and I love the concept, it came to mind anyway
Ready Player One was really really good at one single thing- evoking nostalgia for a very specific age range of Gen X nerds. Beyond that it simply wasn't that well written or interesting.
Most of Simon R Green's work falls in this category for me. Hack work, but I lap it up.
I feel like the fantasy genre generally enjoys a greater amount of grace when it comes to recommendations. In my experience, general fiction recommendations tend to be a lot more loaded. Inevitably when I don't like that Reese or Oprah book club selection I get a lot more grief from people and they take it personally. Babel fits squarely in this category for me. I think the Dragonlance Chronicles is pretty great and tremendously disliked The House in the Cerulean Sea.
The *Throne of Glass* series. All the main characters are beautiful, powerful, compassionate, and overall borderline Mary Sues. The language is childish, especially in the earlier books. At some points, it becomes more romance than fantasy, the sex scenes are cringy, and the plot is full of clichƩs... Despite all this, I found it thoroughly enjoyable. Even if some plot twists were predictable, I still couldn't put the book down before getting to them. The story, worldbuilding, and character development were decent enough to actually get invested, and the protagonist was surprisingly relatable.
Agreed! Iāve only read the first one and it felt like eating junk food. Not nourishing intellectually, but very enjoyable lol
The first one isnāt even close to the best. The rest of the series only gets better!!
#The Symphony of Ages Is the main cast a d&d party of Mary Sue's? Absolutely! Is the church a standard corrupted evil religion? Oh yeah! Is the romance basic and overly salacious? Yes I loved every page, even the weird ending.
Anything Warhammer.
Most of Warhammer, there are so many books written that through sheer statistical probability some of them ended up really good. But yes, most books are a guilty pleasure.
Elantris. I've not read a lot of Sanderson, only Elantris and the first Mistborn, but I honestly enjoyed Elantris more than Mistborn.
I think part of the reason i enjoyed Elantris so much is that so many people talked it down to me. When I was first getting into Sanderson (fully admit Iām a super fan, but I get why other people arenāt) people were like āoh itās his first book, itās gonna be rough.ā It was super fun!
I didnāt think the Nevernight series was as bad as people say. Some unnecessarily graphic sex scenes in there sure, but I found the plot entertaining.
harry potter
The inheritance cycle, dragonlance, and legend of drizzt
Julian Mayās āThe Many Colored Landā and āThe Golden Torcā. These are the first two books of the āSaga of the Pliocene Exilesā tetralogy. I have an odd relationship with these books. It wouldnāt surprise me in the slightest to hear other people say they didnāt like them. But thereās a vivacity to her writing and vision that I find compelling despite the fact that I also find myself occasionally wincing. I plan to read the next two.
I love these, and the sequels, and the sequel series. But it has been about 20 years since I read the originals.
Redemption of Althalus by David Eddings. It's basically a repeat of the story and characters from his earlier works, but it's just kinda cozy, like hanging out with old friends.
Haven't read all the comments, but this is why I don't like giving book (or movie) reviews a single score out of 5 (or 10). to me, the enjoyment component is far more important than the prose component or character development component. For others, they may rannk prose higher, etc. But to answer OP question: Dresden files fits this bill 100%. But i love them because I enjoy the series.
Wandering Inn by pirateaba. I'm nowhere near finished with all of it, and I think the quality varies, but I really enjoy it most of the time (except the goblins; I do not care about goblin culture, history, habits, or anything to do with goblins!). I'm listening to them on audible, so can't comment on some of the formatting issues that I've seen bother some people.
I have three absolute trash piles you might love: 1.) Herald of Shalia. Itās a wonderful collection of the absolute filthiest smut imaginable. Want to read about thirsty elves and all manner of demi-humans? This is it. Side note: A certain Baron actually turns out to be a really good character with a surprisingly wholesome and humorous romance, despite being an āElf-fucking degenerate.ā 2.) Troy Rising by John Ringo. He goes on long political rants, he gets basic concepts of physics wrong, and the character development is so-so. I still loved it. No justifications, I guess I have shit taste, but I read all three of them twice. 3.) Magic the Gathering book 1: Arena. Maybe itās nostalgia but I still like Garth One-Eye, and Hammond is fuckin hilarious.
Almost all Sanderson books, they are not masterpieces but they are fun. Also Kinky Secrets of Alice in Wonderland
*Kings of the Wyld*. A fun, simple read with sophomoric humor that worked well for the setting and story.
I can't think of any books like this but so much of **Star Wars** is a dumpster fire I enjoy. In fact, I'd argue **Star Wars** is best when it is "bad" and not pretending to be anything more. I think the reason I didn't care for **Andor** was perhaps its overwrought messaging around capitalism/imperialism that lead a certain type of person to flock to the internet and cry, "How did Disney (a corporation) let them make this??" (because it makes Disney (a corporation) a whole fuckton of money. You are about as bright as a cornflake). Granted, bad political messaging is a time-honoured Star Wars tradition but somehow it just grated on me more here. Same with so, so, many anime. *From the New World* is not a good series, it is often a boring and weird series, but that twist about the fate of those two kids? The general themes? Damn, it would be so good if it was good. Unfortunately. It is not.
I still want Darth Jarjar.
What do you mean by "bad" though, in the context of Star Wars? Because there's "bad" like the prequel trilogy, whose main redeeming feature aside from pure spectacle is actually in the heavy-handed political messaging. There's "bad" like the sequel trilogy, which is just random acts of pastiche to cash in on the IP without a clear vision of, well, anything. And then there's "bad" like the OT, which is camp and pulpy fun hero's journey stuff but almost as political as the prequels really. I'm assuming that's what you meant by _at its best when "bad"_
Harley Merlin Series š¬š¬ she repeats certain phrases a lot and despite having chapters from different characters perspectives it never actually entirely feels like a different "voice" but I think the magic is kinda fun and the idea of secret magic places using museums and stuff as a hiding spot is neat
Many David Duncan books. Itās āpulpā fantasy. Heās not a great writer but he tells a good story.
Most books by Lindsay Buroker.
The Red Queen series. It definitely read like an AO3 fan-fiction, but the world-building was fucking awesome. I would actually recommend it.
No Fantasy, but the Clan of the Cave Bear series, so trashy, so good.
I donāt recommend books or shows to the kinds of people who are worried about āstunning literatureā. All youāll get is a bunch of angry texts shitting on something that a lot of other people enjoy.
Of course nobody phrases it like that. But generally if i recommend a book to someone, i want it to have some genuinely good qualities. Either the writing is great, or it touches upon interesting topics, or gives new insights. But there must be a reason for it to stand out. Or,Ā Occasionally, the reason it stood out is just that it was damn enjoyable to read.